The Modified Shadow the Hedgehog Game
by TheDragonLover
Summary: Alright, I am going to make another version of this, but I'll keep this one up. I still like it, even though it sucks. Oh, I have made a sequel! Read the NEW Chapter Five. Contains: Fluff, Humor, maybe a little Drama? I don't know...anyways, enjoy!
1. An Odd Start

DL: This is a remake that I have made for the 'Shadow the Hedgehog' game. I have added my characters and my plot, and some other things, too! And here's Shadowpaw!

Shadowpaw: What the…I got hit in the head and suddenly, I'm here…where am I?

DL: And here's Shadow, too! Come on out, Shadow!

Shadow: What the…I was blindfolded and put into a box, and when I woke up after the sleeping gas wore off I find myself here! How'd that happen?

Shadowpaw: (backs away from Shadow) keep away from me!

DL: Oh, shut up, Shadowpaw, we all know the secret already!

Shadow: What secret?

Shadowpaw: Oh, nothing! DL, put the chapter up!

DL: Fine… (whispers) you like Shadow…

Shadow: What?

Shadowpaw: (kicks DL behind backs) Let's get this story going! (smiles)

Chapter 1

An Odd Start

The park was quiet; a few children played with a Frisbee, a couple walked down the sidewalk, and a dog barked at a bush as a squirrel took refuge in its branches. A fish slapped the surface of the pond as it escaped from a heron. Many people came in and left. A black figure walked into the park. His black fur and red striped spikes stuck out like a fish out of water. He walked past the couple, who stopped and stared at him. The kids stopped, too, and watched him walk away. The dog stopped and backed away from him.

Shadow the Hedgehog…

Shadow closed his eyes as he walked in the park. He thought of the past, or at least what he knew of it. He only remembered a distant memory, as if it was a very old thing of the past. He knew nothing else, other than his name. _Shadow the Hedgehog…_ He stopped by an oak on a small hill and stood there, deep in thought. His thoughts were interrupted suddenly when a vortex appeared above the calm city. He watched as strange monsters fell from the sky, and crashed into the streets below and caused havoc. People screamed and ran to hide from the destruction.

Shadow turned away, smirking. "I don't have time for these pathetic humans."

Suddenly, he heard a voice. "Shadow…" He turned, and saw a floating star-like creature with an eye in the middle. Its eye glowed, and a hologram appeared. A floating black monster with three eyes and a flowing robe floated there. He repeated, "Shadow…" Shadow stared at him, confused and curious. The black creature moved its arms while it spoke. "Gather the Chaos Emeralds, and bring them to me, as you promised." Shadow raised an eyebrow. "How do you know my name? And what are you talking about?"

The hologram disappeared, and the floating eye flew away. Shadow tried to follow it, but explosions clouded his vision, and by the time the dust cleared away, it was gone. He looked down, and wondered. "What was that all about? And what did he mean 'as I promised'?" Suddenly, he heard a shout. He looked around, and a black cat with white paws and tail tip came running towards him up the hill. He frowned as she stopped in front of him, panting. She shook her head and looked at him.

"Shadow, we need help!"

He looked, confused, and she waved at the city. "You need you to help us save the city! Come on!" She pulled his arm, and he jerked it away. "Why should we help them?" She crossed her arms and looked at him. "We have to help them! They're defenseless!" Shadow looked away and shrugged. "So?" The cat glared at him and grabbed his arm again. This time, she held on tighter, and managed to pull him out of the park.

Shadow finally slipped out of her grip, and glared at her. She glared back with equal intensity, and he finally sighed. "Why do you even follow me?" She crossed her arms. "I do not follow you! I just happen to find you coincidently." Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Everyday?" The cat growled and crossed her arms. "Are you gonna help, or what?" Shadow sighed again, and she smiled and pulled him along. "I knew you'd agree!"

He shook his hand out of her paw and ran ahead. She smirked and ran a bit faster. She kept up enough to be five seconds behind him and had enough room for cannon shot to fit in. Which happened, incidentally. She stopped and ran around the beam, and saw Shadow had stopped because of another one. He ran around it, and saw Sonic fighting a hulking monster. Sonic slammed into the monster again, and it fell down, dead.

Sonic turned to Shadow and said, "Hey, Shadow! Long time, no see!" The cat ran up behind him, and Sonic smirked. "I see Shadowpaw's still following you." Shadowpaw (the cat) crossed her arms and looked away. "I am not! I just knew he'd help us! Isn't that right, Shadow?" Shadow looked at Sonic and shrugged. Sonic shook his head. Suddenly, another beam shot a few yards away from them. They looked at each other, and Sonic said, "Well, let's get rolling!"

He ran off, and Shadowpaw ran off after him, trying to keep up. Shadow frowned as he ran after them, trying to remember how he exactly met them. He met them a long time ago, but he also met them before he lost his memory. He shook his head as he ran too close to a beam. He had to pay attention to the matter at hand. He ran through the enemies, over crumbling streets, and past the GUN soldiers, until he almost ran into Shadowpaw. He swore under his breath, and he saw she was staring at a floating eye.

He got in front of them and the eye saw him. "Hurry, Shadow, and get the Emeralds." It flew off, and Shadow ran off, Sonic and Shadowpaw after him. Shadowpaw yelled at him, "What did that freaky eye thing mean, Shadow?" Shadow barged through a monster, and picked up its weapon. He stopped and turned to her. "I don't know," He said as he shot down a flying hawk-like creature. "But I'm going to find out."

He charged head on with the monsters, and, with the help of Sonic and Shadowpaw, he destroyed anything in his way. He ran along a building with Sonic, as Shadowpaw grinded on a rail with a makeshift snowboard (in other words, a skateboard with no wheels). As he fell down to the ground, he saw the eye flying away. He touched down, and ran after it. Sonic followed him, killing any stray monsters he didn't kill. Shadowpaw kept up somehow, helping Sonic.

Soon, they ran into dead end. They looked around, and Shadowpaw pointed at some GUN beetles. They jumped up and bounced off of them to a ledge. As soon as he got there, he saw the eye zoom off. He followed it, determined to find out what the creature meant by his promise, and why he needed the Chaos Emeralds. Then, as he defeated what seemed to be the last monster from the vortex, Sonic pointed to something flying in the sky. Shadow squinted. A black tank-like ship was flying low over the highway, planting bombs and dropping off more aliens.

He ran after it, and Sonic smirked and followed. Shadowpaw picked up a Sub-Machine Gun and ran after him as well. They shot at the monsters that terrorized the GUN soldiers, and kept up with the tank. Suddenly, a bomb exploded, and the street beneath their feet crumbled. They fell onto a lower street, and Sonic sighed. "We'll have to find another route to follow."

Shadow looked around, and saw a huge garage door at the end of the street. He ran towards it and pulled it up. They ran in, and as soon as the door shut, a black hawk and a group of monsters attacked a bunch of GUN soldiers. Shadow and Shadowpaw took care of the soldiers, and Sonic went after the hawk. Shadow rammed into a monster, and as it fell backwards, it shot to its right. Shadowpaw saw it and leaped out of the way, and it hit the monster she was fighting.

Finally, they got out of the garage, and they saw the black ship flying away. Shadowpaw smirked, and ran back into the garage. Soon, she rushed past on a GUN motorcycle, laughing. "I'm sure GUN won't mind if I borrow this!" Sonic and Shadow soon caught up, and they ran after it, Shadow shooting at it, since he was the only one with a gun left. Soon, a green glow surrounded the ship, and Sonic started attacking it. Soon afterwards, the glow disappeared, and Shadowpaw jumped off the bike and slashed at it with her claws. The ship's engine broke, and it crashed into the street.

Shadow smirked, and Sonic patted him on the back. "Nice aiming back there, Shadow!" Shadowpaw punched the air with triumph, and turned around. She yelped and hid behind Shadow. He looked behind him, and saw a monstrous sight. A giant monster with huge bat wings and a huge eye, which glowed a green, was flying behind them. When it noticed them, it shrieked. Shadowpaw covered her ears, and Shadow smirked at it. Then, the eye floated in front of them.

The hologram of the three-eyed creature appeared, and it said angrily, "You incompetent fool! How dare you side yourself with the doomed! You shall pay with your lives. Meet my Black Bull!" It disappeared, and the 'Black Bull' flew towards them slowly. Sonic laughed and ran up to it. Suddenly, the Bull spit a ball of fire from its mouth at Sonic. He shouted and moved out of the way. Shadowpaw winced as Sonic hit a wall.

Shadow rolled his eyes and started to shoot it. The Bull looked at them, and slowly flew towards them, shooting fire at them. Shadow and Shadowpaw ran, and kept shooting at it. Shadow ran out of ammo and dropped the gun. Shadowpaw looked at the Black Bull. "It didn't even flinch!" She said as she jumped over the remains of a car. Shadow looked around and quickly grabbed a gun. He hid behind a car and aimed at Black Bull. He looked around, trying to find a vital spot.

Suddenly, a gray blur flew through the air. It hit the Black Bull right in the eye, and it reeled back and shrieked. The gray thing fell in front of them, landing on its feet. When it stopped, they could see it was a gray squirrel with an army vest on and a pair of samurai swords in his hands. Shadowpaw groaned. "Great; Kussia's here to steal all of the fun. See me jump for joy."

Kussia rolled his eyes. "You were hiding behind Shadow, so don't you start on me, Shadowpaw." She started to say something back, when the Black Bull got up and shrieked. They looked at it, and Kussia pointed at its eye. "That's the weak point; it really hurt him badly when I stabbed him with my sword next to the eye, so think how it would feel _in _the eye!" Shadowpaw saw a bunch of black hawks, and ran over to them. She jumped onto the highest one, and waited. Sure enough the Bull turned to her and shot fire at her.

She jumped and grabbed onto its face. It tried to shake her off, and she crawled along its face to its eye. She held out her paw to Shadow, and he threw her the gun. She aimed it at point-blank range, and fired. The Black Bull fell to the ground, writhing on the ground in pain, and Shadowpaw jumped off and threw Shadow back his gun. Sonic gave her a thumbs-up. "Nice aiming, Shadowpaw!"

She smirked. "Nah, anybody could've done. Now, come on!" Sonic shook his head. "I've gotta go help Tails find some park or something. When we find it, he'll get you the coordinates and help ya. But I'm gonna go take a nice short rest." He ran off, and Shadowpaw shook her head. "Cocky…if he wasn't on the good side…" She sighed. Shadow started to walk off. Shadowpaw looked at him questioningly and ran up to him.

She stood in front of him, and he stopped. Shadowpaw crossed her arms. "Where are you going?" Kussia stood a few feet away, watching. Shadow looked away and didn't answer. Shadowpaw waved her paw in front of his face. "Hello? Where are you going?" Shadow looked at her suddenly, and she flinched. He scoffed and walked past her. She growled and grabbed his shoulder.

Shadow spun around. "What do you want?" Shadowpaw glared at him. "I wanna know where you're going." Shadow glared back at her with equal intensity. "I'm going to take a walk." She crossed her arms. "Then I'm going with you!" Shadow groaned. "No, you aren't. _You _are going to stay here and wait for Tails." Shadowpaw gaped at him. "No way! I am _not _gonna sit here and play dumb. I've gotta do something! I'm going with you!"

Shadow sighed. "Fine, whatever." Shadow walked off, and Shadowpaw grumbled and followed him. Kussia shook his head. "No matter what the situation, they always have time for bickering. What a couple of flirters." He sheathed his swords and followed behind them, sneaking behind trees and hiding in the bushes.

Shadow walked back to the park. By now, it was littered with debris and had enough holes to hold a lake full of water. The place was deserted, except for a couple of birds still hanging around the pond. Shadow walked down the same path he had walked only half an hour ago, with Shadowpaw walking beside him. She was quiet, for once, so Shadow was grateful. She just walked beside him, looking at the damage the monsters had caused.

Soon, he came to the hill that he had been standing on by the oak. He walked up the hill, and leaned against the oak. Shadowpaw sat down cross-legged on the grass beside him. They both looked over at the ruins of what used to be the city. A cold breeze ruffled their fur as they gazed at the smoke rising from the wreck. Shadowpaw broke the silence. "What were those things? Where did they come from?"

Shadow shook his head. "I don't know." Shadowpaw crossed her arms and looked up at the sky with her amber eyes. "Well, wherever they came from, we better send them back!" She smirked. "They're pushovers. We can take them. What else can they possibly do?" Shadow looked up at the dark sky. "Who knows, but we better hope they don't do it, whatever it is."

Shadowpaw sighed as she stretched out on the grass. She stared up at the leaves on her back, watching them sway to and fro. They were quiet for a long time; the silence overwhelmed any other sound. Finally, Shadowpaw sat up. She got up on her paws and stretched her legs. Shadow shook his head. "You can't sit in one place for too long. You're just like that fake hedgehog."

She stopped and looked at him. "Just because of the fact that that's true doesn't mean you have to exploit it." Shadow sighed, and she shook her head and lay back down in the grass. She sighed again, and started to roll downhill. She smirked and laughed as she sat up, dizzy from rolling. Shadow rolled his eyes, and Shadowpaw ran up the hill and did it again. And again. And again. And…

Finally, Shadow said as she ran up the hill (again), "Why do you keep doing that?" She looked at him and smirked. "It's fun!" Shadow raised an eyebrow, and Shadowpaw's smirk got wider. "Maybe if you tried it, you'd like it!" Before he knew what was going on, Shadowpaw ran over and pushed him down the hill. He rolled down, and when he stopped he stood up and walked up again, wobbly. Shadowpaw was on the ground laughing and holding her stomach.

Shadow glared at her, and she laughed even harder. He growled and kicked her, and she rolled down the hill. Kussia watched from behind a tree as she stopped at the foot of the hill and ran back up. She tackled Shadow, and they both rolled down the hill, kicking and punching each other. When they got to the bottom, they sat there, their heads spinning. Shadow shook his head and glared at her, but Shadowpaw just grinned and punched him.

He ignored her and stood up. He tried to walk away, but Shadowpaw grabbed his foot and pulled him down. He kicked her in the nose, and she sat there, grabbing her face. He grinned and walked away. But, he heard her running towards him. He ducked, and her fist barely missed his head. He jumped up and avoided her kick, but she scratched his arm and he grabbed it by instinct.

Shadowpaw glared at him, and he glared back. "Oh, it's on now, kitty." She hissed, and they flew at each other. Kussia snickered as they tried to kill each other. Finally, they stopped and stood there, panting and glaring at each other. Suddenly, they heard rustling. They immediately got into battle positions, but lowered their fists when they saw it was Tails. He was panting, his tails drooping behind him.

Shadowpaw glared at Shadow, but he ignored her and said to Tails, "So? What are we gonna do?" Tails handed him a map, and Shadow examined it. He looked up at Tails. "An amusement park?" Tails nodded. "Eggman has taken almost all of the world's rings and hidden them in his amusement park. We need to get them back, pronto!" Shadowpaw looked over Shadow's shoulder at the map. "Why do we have to get some dumb rings from Egghead? What about the monsters?"

Shadow, though, rolled up the map and threw it to Shadowpaw. "Let's go." Shadowpaw fumbled with the map, and she gaped at Shadow. "But what about those creepy monsters? Aren't they our top priority?" Shadow turned to her. "If you don't want to come, go help Kussia destroy what's left of the creatures." Shadowpaw stood there, staring at him. Finally, she smirked. "There's no way you're leaving me with Kussia! I'd rather collect five thousand rings than spend five minutes with him!"

Shadow walked past Tails. "Then let's go!" Shadowpaw ran after him, and Tails sighed. Shadow waved at him, and he propelled his tails and zoomed after them. He couldn't help thinking about why Shadowpaw followed Shadow around. _Why follow him? Doesn't she have something better to do? _He passed Shadowpaw and flew after Shadow. Suddenly, Shadowpaw ran up beside him. She smirked at him, before gaining on Shadow and leaving Tails behind.

He frowned. _How can she be that fast? Oh well, we better hurry up and get there, before the day passes by. _He revved up his tails and ran off after them.

_Commentaries_

DL: Wasn't that exciting? And all of the characters I really care about are in the first chapter, too!

Shadow: You had me sit back and hand Shadowpaw the gun so she can steal all the glory and I just sat in the sidelines and clap?

DL: Umm, pretty much, yeah.

Shadowpaw: Cool! 'I'm sure GUN won't mind if I borrow this!' That's awesome!

Shadow: Do you really roll down hills for fun?

Shadowpaw: (glares at DL) No, I don't. She just put that in there so I appeared weak. She's just jealous that I can kick her butt any day!

DL: No you can't! You can't even beat Kussia up for dead, so how do you expect to beat me?

Kussia: (walks up) What's that supposed to mean?

DL: Oh, nothing…except that I can kick your furry tail easily!

Kussia: Oh yeah? Do you wanna test that theory out?

DL: Yeah! Bring it on!

Shadow: (gets in between them) Hey, how come Shadowpaw can keep up with me when I'm running?

Shadowpaw: Because I am 'da best cat dare is'!

DL: Because she's learned to run fast enough to follow you.

Shadowpaw: That's not true!

Kussia: Please ignore them and review before something bad happens…

Shadowpaw: YOU HAD ME ROLLING DOWN A FRICKIN' HILL!


	2. A Little Trouble

DL: We're back! Sorry it took so long, I had to do work for my classes. If I thought sixth grade was hard, I'd hate to be in eighth right now…

Shadow: Yeah, so…stay in school!

Shadowpaw: And don't do drugs!

Kussia: Okay, no offense, but…don't do that…

DL: That was gay!

Shadow: No it wasn't!

Shadowpaw: It was American! (starts doing the American Anthem)

Shadow: Oh, and this Sonic themed stuff doesn't belong to her…it belongs to the wonderful people who thought of something as perfect as me!

DL: You guys are crazy…ooh, look! Is that an ice cream vending machine? (runs over and puts dollar in) Must have choco-taco!

Kussia: You're all crazy!

DL: Stupid machine! WHERE'S MY FRICKIN' ICE CREAM?"

Chapter2

A Little Trouble

Shadow looked up at the big sign. It was very colorful, with flashing lights and moving pictures. In big red lights it flashed "Circus Park". Shadowpaw tapped his shoulder. He looked at her, and she pointed at Tails, already far ahead. She crossed her arms. "Are ya coming?" He looked at the sign, sighed, and nodded. Shadowpaw grabbed his arm and jerked him away. "Then let's get going!"

They walked down a path surrounded by flashing arrows pointing in different directions. Suddenly, an Eggman robot stepped out from behind an arrow and shot at them. Shadowpaw easily dodged it, ran up to it, and slashed at its head. Its head rolled on the floor, and wires fizzled as it toppled over. She picked up her paw and blew on it, and Shadow rolled his eyes. "Show off…"

She glared at him. "What about you, 'Mr. Ultimate Life form'?" Shadow tried to tell her off, but Tails shushed them both. "Quiet! We have to use stealth for this!" Shadowpaw groaned. "Stealth? We're gonna tip-toe around the place and pick up rings like wimps? Kussia's starting to sound a bit friendlier now…" Tails shushed her again. She grumbled and crossed her arms. Shadow rolled his eyes, and they walked around the park.

Suddenly, a robot jumped out and shot at them. Shadow dodged it, and Shadowpaw pushed Tails down. Shadow destroyed it with one hit, and Shadowpaw handed him its gun. He shook his head and pushed it away. "No, you probably need it more than me." Shadowpaw crossed her arms and glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" Shadow shook his head quickly. "No, no, it's just that…"

She just scoffed and stomped off. Shadow sighed. "Difficult…" A robot's arm hit him in the head, and he glanced at Shadowpaw. She was standing there, whistling. Shadow grumbled. Tails nudged him, and he followed him, picking up rings on the way. When they stopped to rest, Shadow counted them up. "We only have about a hundred rings. How many do we need?"

"Four hundred."

"Crap…"

Shadowpaw leaned against a big shining bouncy looking platform. Suddenly, she shot up like a spring. Shadow and Tails watched as she crashed into a big cushion thing. A little jingle played, and rings fell from a little box above it. As Shadowpaw fell down, Shadow counted up the rings. "Hmmm, ten…twenty…fifty rings altogether!" Shadowpaw hit the ground, and Tails helped her up. Shadow, though, just got up and walked on ahead.

Shadowpaw glared at him, and didn't talk for a long time. As Shadow shot the balloons and jumped through the hoops, Tails and Shadowpaw followed in silence, destroying any robot that got in the way. Finally, they stopped in front of a big pulley. Shadow counted them, and snapped his fingers. "We're a ring short…"

Shadowpaw tapped his shoulder and pointed at a ring on the ledge above them. He reached up, but a robot shot at him. He grabbed his arm. "Damn robots…" Shadowpaw hissed and sliced the robot's arms and legs off. It clattered to the ground in a heap, and Shadowpaw smashed its head. Tails stared at her, surprised at her sudden outburst. Shadow finally grabbed the ring, and Tails nodded at the pulley. "Let's get out of here."

They all grabbed the pulley, and held on tight as it rushed past giant balloons and floats. Shadowpaw shook her head. "What an egghead…" They jumped off the pulley and ran through the robots fighting the GUN soldiers. As they neared the exit, Tails thought about Shadowpaw's outburst again as he dodged bullets and lasers. _She seemed mad…but why? Wasn't she mad at Shadow a few seconds earlier?_

They finally got to the exit, and ran off without another word. As they raced past the outer defenses, Tails picked up a remote and pressed a few buttons. A few minutes later, the TornadoX flew up to them. (Many people say that the Tornado is the blue plane thing that can change into a jet thing, but the first Tornado is actually the red plane that Sonic and Tails used to use in Sonic DX Directors Cut before Tails made the blue one. Of course, I have a small hunch that maybe he painted the red plane blue and modified it...oh, well)

He flew in, and motioned for Shadow and Shadowpaw to get on. They grabbed onto the plane, and it took off over the treetops. They flew on, and Shadowpaw and Shadow sat on the plane, silent. Finally, they got to a clearing. Tails landed, and Shadow and Shadowpaw got off. He waved at them both. "Sorry I have to leave you guys, but I've got to return these rings. Bye!"

Shadowpaw waved as he flew away, but Shadow already ran off. She ran after him and tapped his shoulder. "Can you give a cat a break? Slow down!" Shadow didn't answer, but he slowed down. She ran beside him, trying not to complain anymore. Finally, they came across a bunch of ruins. They stared up at the ruins, until finally Shadowpaw said, "Well, here goes nothing!" They both walked in, prepared for anything.

They weren't as prepared as they thought.

The whole place was swarming with monsters. Shadowpaw gaped at the sheer number of them gathered in one place. A swarm of black hawks flew past them. Shadow recovered from the shock and quickly walked on. Shadowpaw shook her head and followed him. Soon they came upon a dead end. A vine protruded from the ground and trailed on to the other side. Shadow jumped on and grinded off to the other side. Shadowpaw looked down.A huge black abyss waited for her if she fell.

She looked back up and gulped. She jumped on the vine and grinded after him. She saw someone standing on the other side, but she couldn't see who it was;its back was facing them. When it turned to look at them, though, it was clear who it was. Rouge waved at them, and they jumped off the vine. Shadowpaw stumbled and almost fell, but she righted herself and walked over to them.

Rouge was talking with Shadow, but stopped when she looked at Shadowpaw. She crossed her arms. "Well, if it isn't Shadowpaw. Is she still following you around?" Shadowpaw stomped her foot. "I am _not _following him!" Rouge laughed and winked at her. "Sure, whatever you say, kiddo." Shadowpaw grumbled as Rouge kept talking to Shadow. Finally, they started their trek through the ruins.

Shadow destroyed any monsters in their way, and Rouge counted them up as they went. The last time she had counted the monsters, there were fifty of them. Shadowpaw helped out, too. Whenever some came from behind, she gave them a good one two. Once, the flock of black hawks dived at Shadow. Before they could land a hit, though, Shadowpaw jumped up and kicked the tobacco out of them.

Shadow and Rouge watched her knock the hawks senseless, until a roaring made them look around. Shadowpaw looked up from punching a hawk, and pointed up at a ledge. When Rouge and Shadow looked up, their eyes widened. A giant _flower _was growling at them. It roared again, thumping the ground with its leaves. Shadowpaw got up and walked over to the ledge. "A flower? What'll they think of next?"

She climbed up the ledge and faced the flower. She smirked. The flower growled at her and thumped its leaves. Shadowpaw just walked over to the flower and kicked it. It wilted and curled up. Shadowpaw turned to Shadow and laughed. "That was too easy!" Shadow looked behind her, and his eyes widened. Shadowpaw smirked. "What's wrong?" She looked down, and saw a huge shadow was blocking the light coming from above. She looked up, and the flower hulked over her, its leaves thumping harder on the ground.

The flower picked up its head and whacked it against the ground. Shadowpawjumped out of the way and off the ledge. She landed on her feet-paws, (i call it what i will, leave me alone!)but fell down on her stomach. She looked up at Rouge, who was smiling at her. "Is it still too easy?" Shadowpaw grumbled and got up, brushing herself off. She crossed her arms and looked at the flower. It growled at her. She shivered, but looked at Rouge and nodded. "I just need a different tactic."

Rouge rolled her eyes and walked over to the ledge. A box was sitting there, hiding in the shadow of the ledge. She kicked it open and revealed a semi-auto rifle. Shadowpaw blinked as Rouge threw the gun to Shadow. He caught it and jumped on the ledge. He aimed in midair and shot at the bud. After a couple of shots, it withered on the ground and died. He threw the gun back down, and Shadowpaw picked it up, staring at him. Shadow waited as Rouge flew up, and left before Shadowpaw climbed up. When she finally got up, he was on the next vine with Rouge flying next to him.

Shadowpaw sighed. Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet crumbled, and she fell back down. She growled and started to climb again. But, a black hawk flew by and grabbed her. She kicked and punched it, but it didn't let go. Finally, it dropped her on a platform. She stood up, dizzy from altitude sickness, until she heard growling, and a _thump, thump._ She gulped. She turned around, and she stared into the 'face' of a giant flower.

She dropped the gun, and the flower roared. Then, she felt a sharp pain on her neck, and she blacked out.

_Shadow & Rouge_

They walked on the path for what seemed like a long time, but they didn't encounter anymore monsters. Rouge looked back behind them. "Maybe we should turn back; we might have missed some." Shadow nodded, and was about to turn around when he noticed that somebody's whines were missing. He looked around. "Where's Shadowpaw?" Rouge looked around. "I don't know. We better find her. They walked around, yelling out for her, when suddenly Rouge stopped. She pointed at a ledge. "Shadow look at this!"

Shadow looked at where she was pointing, and his eyes widened. Rouge was pointing at a gun. It looked familiar… He slapped his forehead. _Of course! It's that gun I gave Shadowpaw! _Rouge gasped, and he followed her vision. On another platform, a group of Eggman's robots were carrying something black…Shadow looked closer. It had white paws. He yelled, "Shadowpaw! Wake up, Shadowpaw!" Rouge shook her head as they walked into a small ship. "She can't hear you, she's too far away." Shadow glared at the ship as it passed over their heads. After a while, it tilted up and flew into the sky. Rouge squinted as it flew in front of the sun, and out of sight.

Shadow pounded his fist on a box. "Damn it! Eggman's got Shadowpaw!" Rouge looked at him worriedly. "Where is he going?" Shadow shook his head. "I don't know. We better follow him. Come on!" He ran off, and Rouge shook her head. "What does that egg-bellied coward want with Shadowpaw, anyway?" She flew after him, and he ran off through the ruins. He ran right past the monsters, until he stopped and Rouge almost ran into him. She screeched to a halt behind him, and he turned around to look at her.

"Of course! How could I be so stupid?" He turned back to the monsters and killed them with ease. He started to glow blue, and he took a Chaos Emerald from behind his back. (Where he kept it, we'll never know…) Rouge's eyes sparkled at the sight of it, but Shadow held it high and yelled, "Chaos Control!" With a blue flash, he was gone. Rouge blinked until she didn't see spots, and she flew out of the ruins, thinking.

_What is Eggman up to this time?_

_Commentaries_

Shadowpaw: YOU HAD ME KIDNAPPED BY THAT FRICKIN' IDIOT EGGHEAD?

DL: I think it fits the plot well…besides, it was all Kussia's idea…

Kussia: No it isn't!

Shadowpaw: KUSSIA! (chases Kussia)

Shadow: Did Kussia really tell you to put it in the plot?

DL: Nope!

Shadow: I thought so.

Shadowpaw: Come back here, Kussia!

Kussia: (ducks behind Shadow) Tell her to stop!

Shadow: I can't tell her to stop!

Kussia: But I thought you guys liked each other?

Shadow and Shadowpaw: (standing and staring at each other) …

DL: (tip-toes away) Until next chapter, bye!

Shadowpaw: Ja ne!

Shadow: Where'd you learn Spanish?

Shadowpaw: It's Japanese, you dimwit!

Kussia: Shut up, flirters!

Shadow and Shadowpaw: KUSSIA!


	3. The Rescue

Shadow: We're back…unfortunately…with another chapter to this remake of my game. By the way, it goes from stage 1 to Lethal Highway, Circus Park, Death Ruins, Gear Gadget, and…well, you gamers know, and for others, it's a surprise!

DL: Ooh! I love surprises! Me! Pick me!

Kussia: You want a surprise?

DL: Umm, from you? No. But from somebody else? Maybe.

Shadowpaw: How about me?

DL: …

Shadow: Well, here is the extremely odd chapter that has violence and entertainment…

Shadowpaw, Kussia, DL, and Shadow: But mostly VIOLENCE!

Chapter 3

Race Against Time

At first, all Shadowpaw knew was that she was lying on something hard. Then, she thought, _**why** am I lying on something hard?_ She slowly opened her eyes, and found she couldn't see anything. She blinked a couple of times, and finally she saw a faint outline of items. She frowned, although nobody would know that in the dark. "What's going on? Where am I?" Suddenly, a door on her right opened.

She ducked behind a box and hid. She peeked from behind the box. One of Eggman's robots was looking around the room. She held her breath. The robot glanced around the room, and turned around and shut the door. She sighed. She looked around. Her eyes got more and more accustomed to the lack of light, and soon she saw she was in a storage unit.

She crossed her arms. The steel floor was cold, and her fur wasn't enough comfort. She curled up and waited, for what, she didn't know. The end of the world…the apocalypse…anything to get her out of this cell! Finally, she felt the room shake. She blinked as the door opened again. This time, she didn't even bother to hide. She looked up as a robot walked towards her. It picked her up roughly and pulled her to the door. She shook herself out of its grip and brushed herself off. "I can walk myself; I didn't lose my feet."

She was walked into a huge room with controls everywhere. She looked out of the window. She found herself doing a double take. She was looking down on the planet, in the dark reaches of space. She felt a little queasy, but didn't dare show it. She was just stubborn like that. A huge screen popped up from the floor, and Eggman's ugly mug appeared on it. He laughed at her, making her blood itch to kick him.

Eggman smirked at her glare. "Ho ho! Shadowpaw, my rivals' friend. It's nice of you to drop by for a visit!" Shadowpaw hissed. Eggman just smiled. "Still as stubborn as ever, I see. Well, we'll have to change that, now, won't we?" Shadowpaw spat, "You can't touch me, you egg-bellied swine! I can take you!" Eggman smirked. "Yes, I'm sure you can! But what about my army?" Doors all around the room opened and Egg Pawns poured in. There was barely enough room for all of them.

Shadowpaw glared at him, and tried to kick robot away. Eggman laughed. "Don't hurt yourself! We wouldn't want you to lose your last life before your job is done!" Shadowpaw's ears perked up and she stopped herself in mid-punch. Her arms flopped to her side, and she looked at Eggman uneasily. "Job?" Eggman laughed again, and a video screen popped up next to him. It showed Shadow on Tails' ship, flying towards them. Eggman smirked. "You're bait, so that I can get rid of him and his weak little friends once and for all!"

Shadowpaw snarled, "I will not be used as bait, you…you damn egg-headed, yellow-bellied coward!" Eggman smirked. "I would never have thought of you capable of such language, Shadowpaw! How rude!" Shadowpaw tried to attack the screen, but the Egg Pawns held her back. One hit her in the side and knocked the wind out of her. The ground rose to greet her, and she found stars spinning around the room. Eggman laughed as she was picked up by an Egg Pawn and marched out of the room, almost like a rag doll.

She was simply too tired to fight anymore.

The Pawn dropped her unceremoniously into a bigger room, and locked the door behind it. Shadowpaw just sat there, staring at the blank wall. There was nothing in the room; no chairs, no boxes, no…anything. She stared at the wall, too angry to think straight, and too tired to move around to calm down. She was being used as a 'damsel in distress' so Shadow can get fried and Eggman can rule the world.

That didn't sound fun.

She sighed and lay down. She closed her eyes, but she couldn't get to sleep with all of the worries, the anger, the loneliness…She finally grunted as she got up on her feet and paced. Her anger cooled quickly as she saw she couldn't do anything to get out of this if she was loud. She would have to use quick thinking and stealth to get out of this. Surely he gave food to his prisoners…

The door whooshed open, and a tray was pushed into the room. Shadowpaw stared at it. It was stale bread with cheese and a cup of milk. She groaned. "You've got to be kidding me." But she ate it, and drank the milk as she thought. _Hmmm, let's see…the main room is usually in the middle of the building, so if I just go away from it…_ She sighed. _I'll walk right into space. What am I supposed to do now? I have no plan whatsoev-_

Suddenly, she thought of something so rare and unlikely… "It just might work!" She got up, and waited for the robot. Sure enough, the robot came. Obviously, Eggman wanted her to be full and content when Shadow came to rescue her. Her stomach did a flip-flop when she thought of Shadow coming. _Shadow… _she clenched her fists. _I will not let them fry you!_

The door opened, and the robot looked around for her. Shadowpaw flew at it, and caught it by surprise. She took it down easily, and knocked down the other robots nearby. With a new strength she never knew she had, she sneaked past the robots and ran for an elevator looking door. It had an array of buttons, labeled with different floor names, so it was probably an elevator. Some kind of elevator, anyway. As soon as she walked in, a computer voice came up. Where would you like to go? 

Shadowpaw looked at a conveniently placed map on the wall. She scanned over it until she saw one labeled 'Experiment Room'. She smirked and said, "Experiment room, please!" The computer answered your welcome and it zoomed to the left, making Shadowpaw fall down. It stopped and zoomed up. Shadowpaw still hugged the ground. When it finally reached the room, Shadowpaw wobbly walked off. The computer said, Have a nice day! Shadowpaw grumbled, "You too, computer person…"

She walked on, and looked around. She was in a room filled with models and tubes. One tube had a fox looking thing, except it had four arms and three red eyes. Shadowpaw stared at it. The fox crossed its arms and said in an alien voice, "What are you looking at?" Shadowpaw looked down and didn't look at any other experiments. She walked past one that had a cover on it, and it raised her curiosity.

She backtracked and stared at it. She finally worked up the courage and pulled off the tarp. She stared at the thing in disbelief. It was a blue Chaos Emerald. She thought of how Shadow and Sonic moved so fast whenever they had one. She smirked, and carefully picked it up. _Shadow is so going to owe me! _She was about to yell "Chaos Control" when an alarm when off. She snapped her fingers. "Turn on the alarm, will they?" She looked to her left, and ran into a door.

As she closed the door, she noticed she was in an abandoned room. She looked at all of the broken robots and parts. _It's like walking through a junk graveyard… _She carefully stepped over some robot parts, and was about to leave when another idea hit home. She looked down at the parts. They seemed to have come from a fast vehicle. She grabbed an arm and a wheel, and a model firmed in her mind. "I may not be a mechanic," She said as she started to put the parts together. "But I do know enough to get by!"

_Shadow and Sonic_

Shadow paced the ship as they flew towards Eggman's ship base. Sonic lounged on a chair, staring at him. Finally, Sonic said, "Chill, Shadow. I'm sure she's having fun up there, kicking Egghead's butt. Relax, loosen up a little!" Shadow sighed. "Yeah, but if I hadn't left her in the ruins…" Sonic sighed. "It's not your fault, it was hers. If she hadn't lagged behind, she would've never been outwitted by Eggbelly. So, don't kill yourself over it; we'll get her."

Shadow sat down on the chair. He was still mad at himself, but now he actually had the sense to wonder why. _What's wrong with me? I'm acting like…like… _He cringed as he thought of Maria. He stared out of the window a long time, trying to recollect his thoughts. Suddenly, Sonic cheered. He pointed at a huge group of monsters flying over them like vultures.

Sonic smirked. "Now _that's _what I'm talking about! It's time to rock and roll!" He smirked and ran off. Shadow glanced at the window again, then ran after him. Sonic pressed a button on the wall, and pulled out a Chaos Emerald from behind his back (like with Shadow, we don't know where he put it…) and did a thumbs-up at Shadow. Then he yelled "Chaos Control" and ran off in a flash. Shadow took out the Emerald he had and did the same.

As Sonic raced ahead, he looked at Shadow and smirked. "I'll race ya, Shadow! Just like old times!" Shadow frowned. _Old times? When did he… _He shook his head and ran ahead of Sonic. Sonic grinned. "I knew you'd love a race!" He ran after him, and they raced on. Shadow was sometimes ahead, then Sonic would find a shortcut and get farther. Sonic grinned as he turned to Shadow. "I've heard Egghead has a Chaos Emerald! Want that as our meeting point?"

Shadow almost tripped. "Chaos Emerald? Now you tell me?" Sonic was running backwards now. He shrugged. "I didn't really think it mattered, since you already have about-" But he was cut short when Shadow raced ahead. He didn't like how things were working out. _If Eggman has an Emerald, and those monsters want them all, then that means they're hear for one reason and one reason only: to get the Chaos Emerald. _He jumped over monsters and passed Egg Pawns. His mission was to find that Chaos  
Emerald before those monsters did.

Suddenly, he saw something flying out of Eggman's ship. (It looks like a giant Egg Pawn with jets and a cockpit) He watched as it hovered for a second, and started to come to him. He was about to battle it when he saw something furry in the cockpit. It was waving at him, and it had white paws… He screeched to a halt, and Sonic ran past him. He screeched to a halt too and backtracked to where Shadow was staring at the ship. They watched as Shadowpaw zoomed towards them. Sonic scratched his head. "What the heck is that? I've never seen that before."

Shadow rolled his eyes and pointed at the cockpit. Sonic squinted, then he grinned and yelled, "Hey, Shadowpaw! Over here!" Shadow slapped his forehead as monsters started to come towards them. He smacked Sonic in the back of the head and yelled, "We're still in the battlefield, you idiot! They're swarming us now!" Sonic rubbed his head as the monsters came towards them. But, they stopped. They seemed to be feeling something. _Come to think of it… _Shadow looked around. Sonic nodded. "I feel it, too. Where's that power coming from?"

_Shadowpaw_

Shadowpaw waved at them, and the robots noticed her. They powered up their guns and fired. Shadowpaw tried to maneuver through all of them, but three hit her right booster, and she spun out. She didn't feel so good. She shook her head, and hid the Emerald behind her. _Can't show the monsters it or they'll freak! _She finally got control of her jet, and it roared back to life. She thought she hadn't heard a sweeter sound in her life, next to a can opener.

She waved at Shadow again, and he nudged Sonic and pointed at the cockpit. He yelled something, and Shadow slapped his forehead again. Before he could strangle Sonic, though, the monsters shot at them and they had to duck. With the distraction, the monsters came at her ship like hawks. (Well, some of them **were** black hawks, but…) She couldn't escape them, and she couldn't fight them. She felt the Emerald pulse behind her.

_Of course! _She took it out from behind her, and the monsters shrieked. She yelled Chaos Control" and the ship disappeared. She was running in space! She thought she'd love to do it any day when she ran into something. She shook her head and found herself staring into a big monster's (for gamers, it's a Black Oak) eyes. She gulped and started to back away. But, she felt something behind her, too. She whipped around, and an Egg Pawn was standing there.

She tried to walk to her left, since the right was a wall, but found herself staring into open space. She looked back at the monster and robot, and found herself staring at Shadow, too. She was about to sigh in relief when she saw Shadow and Sonic fighting the monsters. She looked back and forth, and found that the other one in front of her had golden stripes, not red. She smirked. "One of Eggman's phonies, huh?" She quickly turned around and saluted them. "Adios!"

She started to run, but something grabbed her in the process. Her feet were still running, but she wasn't going anywhere. She turned around and looked. The Oak was holding her by the tail. She yelped and started to run faster. The friction under her feet made the steel really hot, and the Oak was inching towards the edge little by little. Suddenly, it let go. She shot like a rocket and…

…Ran straight into a wall.

She held her head, and she lost focus. An eye floated in front of her, but she was too dazed to think about it too much. Besides, before she focused, something hit her in the back of the head. She blinked back vomit, and the thing hit her again. She dropped. Before she lost consciousness, she groaned, "Not again!" Then, her vision went black.

_Shadow_

"Not again!"

Shadow whipped around, and saw Shadowpaw collapse. The blue Emerald fell out of her paw. Shadow slapped his forehead. "She's got the Emerald?" The Oak that knocked her out picked her up and the Emerald, and started to walk off. Shadow ran over to it and rammed into its back. It was almost rock solid. Shadow blinked, dazed, and the Oak threw him into a wall. He shook his head and ran up to it again. Before he could land a punch (Or ram into again), the eye showed the hologram again.

"You fool!" It waved its arms angrily. "You will pay, as will the rest of your allies! Starting with her!" He waved the Oak away, and it ran off. Shadow clenched his fist as it ran off. " You damn monsters!" The hologram laughed. "If you really want to see her again, come to the Black Comet. And," He added before Shadow left, "Bring the rest of the Chaos Emeralds." The eye flew away, and Shadow punched the wall over and over again. "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!"

Sonic ran up to him and held his arm. "Watch it, Shadow, or you'll break the wall!" A dent was imbedded into the wall, and Shadow kicked it and stomped off. Sonic ran up to him. "So what's the plan?" Shadow glared at the retreating monsters. "Find Shadowpaw, destroy all of the monsters, grab the Chaos Emeralds, and get the hell out of here." Sonic nodded. "Good plan! Let's go!" He ran off to the ship, and Shadow followed him, still fuming.

_Damn cowards…using Shadowpaw as bait to get me and the Chaos Emeralds…well, they'll get their wish, but they won't get the Emeralds. _He glared at the comet. _When I find you, Black Doom, you'll die. _Sonic laid back as the ship zoomed towards the comet. He smirked. "It's time to play the real game! You up to it, Shadow?" Shadow looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

_Commentaries_

Shadowpaw: YOU HAD ME RUN INTO A FRICKIN' WALL!

Shadow: I really liked the part where Shadowpaw did her first real cursing!

Kussia: Really bad, I have to say! Bad Shadowpaw! No bad words from you! (waves finger in front of Shadowpaw's face)

Shadowpaw: Shut up! (bites finger)

Shadow: And why did I freak out when she got captured?

Kussia: Why did Romeo and Juliet die when they couldn't be married?

Shadow, Shadowpaw, and DL: (stares at Kussia)

Kussia: What? I can't read good literature anymore? Fine!

Shadowpaw: What was that supposed to mean anyways?

DL: Nothing, Kussia! It means nothing!

Kussia: But I

DL: (stomps on Kussia's tail) You have a busy schedule! I know! Go help those poor kids trapped in that landslide after you help the seals stranded after the tsunami! Let me drive you there! (runs out of room)

Shadow and Shadowpaw: (staring at each other)

Shadow: (cough) Well, we should do the thank you to people and stuff…

Shadowpaw: Yeah… (runs off after DL, yelling, "Let me help you, Kussia!")

Shadow: Aww, come on! Do I have B.O.?

Silence…

Shadow: Fine, I see how it is…


	4. Final Battle

Shadow watched them get closer and closer to the comet. He thought of past events. _Okay, first we kicked their butts in the city and brought down the tank, then we went into the ruins. Shadowpaw got captured and we ran out quickly and followed Egghead. Before we got in, however, Shadowpaw came out with the Chaos Emerald. The monsters attacked her and took her with it. Black Doom is now using her as bait to get the rest of the Chaos Emeralds._

Shadow sighed. _Why the hell do they need the Chaos Emeralds, anyway? _Suddenly, the ship shook. Sonic yelled to Tails, "What's up with the ship, Tails?" Tails chuckled nervously, "I think we ran out of gas…" Shadow and Sonic fell out of their chairs. Shadow yelled, "What, you didn't think we should have a lot just in case we had to go rescue Shadowpaw from Black Doom and save the world?" Sonic sighed. "Well, I guess we'll have to run the rest of the way."

They both nodded and took out the Emeralds. Tails whined, "You aren't gonna leave me here, are you?" Sonic smirked. "Don't worry! We'll be back before you know it, Shadowpaw beside us and Chaos Emeralds in hand. Which reminds me," He put the other Chaos Emeralds down under the control panel. "Do you think you can hold onto them until we get back?" Tails frowned. "But I thought that's what Black Doom wanted in exchange for Shadowpaw!"

Shadow looked up at the comet. "He wouldn't give her to us anyways, so we might as well just barge in there and take her. Besides, he'll be dead soon, so the Emeralds shouldn't be his main worries." Then he picked up an Emerald and yelled, "Chaos Control!" Sonic did likewise and they ran off. Closer and closer they got to the comet, speeding through space. Soon, they were straight in its path. They looked at each other and nodded.

They both ran towards the comet and destroyed the front assault that greeted them. They easily cut through the defenses and landed on the comet. Sonic looked around. "Where's Black Doom?" Shadow shrugged. Suddenly, the floating eye came out from behind a rock. Shadow ran towards it, but it zoomed of in the opposite direction. Shadow caught up to it and grabbed it. It squirmed in his hands, and he glared straight into the eye. "Where is Shadowpaw, you damn coward?"

Then, he groaned and fell to his knees. He let go of the eye and held his head. Sonic came up to him and looked at him, worried. "You alright, Shadow?" Shadow watched the eye zooming off, and he glared at it and ran after it again. He kept well behind it, keeping it in sight. Finally, it flew around a corner. Shadow rounded it and screeched to a halt. A whole army of Black Doom's twisted monsters were waiting for him. He clenched his fists. "I knew that damn liar wouldn't give us Shadowpaw!"

He ran right into the army and punches went flying everywhere. He quickly hit one and ducked as another tried to punch him. He dished it out quickly and nimbly dodged their pathetic attempts. Sonic leaned against the wall, watching him fight. "He needs it more than me!" He mumbled to no one in particular. A black hawk dived at him, but Sonic just side-stepped it. It collided into the wall.

Shadow clapped off his hands. All of the creatures were on the ground, either dead or barely hanging on to life. He walked over them all, and Sonic nodded. They continued walking calmly, Shadow fighting all of the monsters and Sonic backing him up when he needed it. But, for the most part, Shadow was doing fine on his own; he was too pissed off to be defeated. They found the eye again, and raced after it as it dove into a hole. They jumped into it, and ran through a twisted series of tunnels, following the eye.

Finally, they got into a huge room, probably the last one in the place they'd have to go through. They watched it fly behind a barrier, and disappear. Sonic groaned, but Shadow just hit a switch, which lifted up the blockade, ran past Sonic and looked back at him. Sonic ran over, and they faced Black Doom himself. It was so unexpected that Sonic took a few steps back, but Shadow stood his ground, glaring at him. Black Doom motioned to an Oak, and it moved aside to show Shadowpaw held up in the air, her arms and legs shackled.

When she saw Shadow, she brightened. "Shadow! Get this good-for-nothing, crappy floating creep! I would myself, but…" Shadow smirked, but he glared at Black Doom. The abomination laughed. "So you have come, Shadow? I was just beginning to wonder what was taking you so long." Shadow spat, "Give us Shadowpaw!" Black Doom motioned to the Oak again, and it grabbed her. She kicked at it, but she was too weak from lack of food and everything else she's been through.

Shadow growled, "Damn it, give her to me, Black Doom! Now!" Black Doom laughed again. Shadow growled and ran up to him. A black hawk suddenly rammed into him, and he hit the ground, the wind knocked out of him. Shadowpaw kicked even harder, and the Oak tightened its hold. She tried to bite it, but only managed to get a mouthful of her own fur. She then lashed out her tail at one of its eyes. It let go of an arm, and she slipped out of its grasp and ran. Shadow tried to get to her, but Black Doom floated in between them.

Shadowpaw ducked and slid under him. She grabbed Shadow's hand, but a Black Volt (one of those super black hawk things) grabbed her. She hissed. "No! Not again, you damn bird thing!" She bit into its wing, and it let go of her. Instead of jumping off, though, Shadowpaw climbed onto its back and pulled on its left wing. It steered left, and she grabbed its head and directed it to Shadow. He watched in amazement as she landed in front of him.

The Volt whimpered as she got off. She smirked evilly at it. It shuffled away, and flew off. Black Doom was a few yards in front of them. He suddenly materialized the Emerald from his cloak, and it glowed. Shadow smirked. He ran over to it, but before he ran into him, he quickly ran behind and leaped. Black Doom dodged him, but Shadowpaw leapt at him too. He dodged again, and an Oak came clumsily over to her. She got up and clenched her claws so hard her paws began to bleed a little.

They stood there, waiting for the other to move. Finally, the Oak stomped towards her. She jumped over it and slashed at its shoulder. When it reached over to grab its shoulder, she rammed into its back. She winced, but it toppled over, and she stepped on top of it triumphantly. Shadow, though, was trying to hit Black Doom. Doom kept disappearing and appearing, so it was near impossible to land a hit on him. "Damn it, Black Doom, you coward!"

Shadowpaw and Sonic ran by his side, and Black Doom laughed. "Do you really think you can defeat me? The Black Arms are _perfect_!" They all looked at each other, then turned to Shadow. He smirked. "I don't think; I _know_ we can beat you, you damn coward!" They heard a scuffling, and Kussia came riding a Black Volt over towards them. He jumped off and landed neatly right next to them. "Count me in!"

They all assaulted Black Doom, and he couldn't keep still without being hit. He threw fireballs and shock waves at them, but they helped each other out. Once, he hit Shadow with a shock wave and flung him in the air. Shadowpaw quickly jumped up, grabbed his hand, and flung him back at Black Doom. He collided, and Black Doom disappeared. Shadow gave Shadowpaw a hive five.

Kussia attacked Black Doom with his twin swords, while Sonic kept running up to him and distracting him with a Homing attack. Shadow grabbed a RPG and shot at him while he ran, and Shadowpaw joined in with a Worm Shooter (one of those giant worms' gun that they try to shoot at you with). It looked like they were gonna win this fight.

But, Black Doom suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind them, unleashing a torrent of fireballs and shock waves. As they dodged this, they saw him send out Black Hawks and Black Volts into space. At first, it seemed like a retreating maneuver. But, they realized Black Doom's purpose as they saw the fleet start to fly towards Tails' ship. Shadow tried to follow them, but Black Doom blocked him and hit him back with a shock wave. He fell on his back, and Shadowpaw helped him up.

He looked at her, and something went between them. They both nodded, and they were suddenly running towards Black Doom, hand in hand. He turned to them and laughed. "What is this, a last attempt to kill me? What worthless trash…" But, Shadowpaw jumped up, and flung Shadow at him. He hit him and grabbed the Emerald, while Shadowpaw scratched at him. Black Doom held his face (if you can call it a face) and hissed at them.

"You meddlers! You shall pay dearly for this!" He grabbed Shadowpaw and tried to squeeze the life out of her. Shadow shot at his hand, though, and Shadowpaw landed on her feet, rubbing her neck. Shadow raged and suddenly yelled out, "Chaos Blast!" The shockwave hit everyone, but it was mostly directed towards Black Doom. He faltered, and Shadowpaw ran over to Shadow. He was standing there, panting.

"Where'd that come from?" Shadowpaw looked at him incredulously. He groaned, but smirked at her. "I might have hit a couple GUN units on the way here…" Shadowpaw grinned, and Shadow got up. He heard screeching, and turned to see Tails flying towards them, with a fleet of Hawks and Volts in pursuit. Sonic cursed under his breath. "They must know he has the Chaos Emeralds!"

Suddenly, a Black Volt sent a wave towards Tails' ship. He had to duck to avoid it, but he crashed into the floor and skidded on the ground. When it came to a stop, the fleet surrounded it. Sonic ran over to the ship. "Tails! Are you okay?" Tails came out, a little shaken, holding the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow quickly ran over and grabbed two of them. He handed Shadowpaw the blue Emerald, and kept the red one for himself.

The Hawks dived at them, and they had to disperse. Each of them, except Sonic and Kussia, had one Chaos Emerald. Sonic and Kussia had two, for some odd reason. Tails whined as they went to kick the crap out of Black Doom. "How come I can't have one?" Sonic patted him on the back. "There's not enough to go around, and we don't want you to get hurt." Tails pouted. "Just because I'm eight years old doesn't mean I can't take care of myself!"

Shadow, Shadowpaw, Kussia, and Sonic all tackled Black Doom at the same time. He disappeared, but he left an illusion. Sonic was about to attack it, but Shadow turned him around towards the real Black Doom. Sonic chuckled nervously and charged. Shadowpaw looked up at a platform and a sniper rifle. She looked at Shadow and grinned. "I think I have an idea…"

Shadow saw where she was looking and nodded. Shadowpaw snuck off as the others kept Doom occupied. She snuck onto the platform and grabbed the rifle. She aimed carefully at Black Doom and shot rapidly at him. Only half of the bullets hit him, but it was enough to knock him for a loop for a split second, which gave Shadow the chance to knock him down completely.

Black Doom panted as they gathered around him, doing things like cracking their knuckles and reloading the gun and everything. Doom looked up at them, glaring mostly at Shadow. "You may think you've won, but we will come back and take our revenge." Shadowpaw smirked. "I think you're all washed up, Doom! You've got nothing!" Shadow smirked. "We'll destroy the rest of the Black Arms with ease. You're finished."

Sonic grinned and patted Shadow on the back. "Good job, Shadow! You've finished off Black Doom!" Shadow looked at Shadowpaw, who smirked at him and crossed her arms. Shadow slowly smirked and looked at Sonic. "No. _We _defeated Doom. All of us." Tails smiled. "Now the world's safe again!" Sonic stretched as he walked back to the ship with Tails. "I need to take a brake. Maybe we should go on vacation!"

Kussia shook his head and followed them. Shadowpaw sighed. "They didn't really do anything, really." She looked at Shadow. "_You _did most of it." Shadow looked away at Sonic laughing about something. He shook his head. "If you hadn't taken me out of the park, I wouldn't have done this. So, it's all basically thanks to you." Shadowpaw rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled nervously. "Well, now, I don't really think…"

She stopped and looked over at Sonic, Tails, and Kussia getting into Tails' ship. She looked down. "I guess we should go…" She was about to go when she stopped and looked at Shadow. "Hey, Shadow? I was…" She hesitated, and shook her head. "Never mind." Shadowpaw turned away and started walking towards Tails' ship. Shadow stopped her by putting his hand on her shoulder. He looked at her, but she wouldn't meet his gaze. "You were what?"

Shadowpaw shook her head again. "It's nothing really, forget about it."

Shadow looked at her as she rubbed her arm nervously. She looked over at Tails' ship, only to find it was off the ground. It flew down the hall they had come from and into the darkness. Shadowpaw groaned. "_Now _how am I gonna get back onto the planet when my ride's already gone?" She sat down on a box and sighed. "Do you think they realize we aren't on there?"

Shadow nodded. "I think Kussia planned this."

Shadowpaw smirked. "It wouldn't surprise me."

They sat there in silence, not able to really figure out a way to get back 'home'. Shadowpaw snapped her fingers suddenly and smirked. "Of course!" Shadow looked at her oddly as she pulled out the blue Chaos Emerald he had handed her. She held it up and smirked. "Wanna race?"

Shadow took out the red Emerald and stared at it. The surface portrayed a black hedgehog with red stripes on his spikes and white chest fur, rings on his wrists and a confidence in his eyes. He slowly smirked and looked at Shadowpaw. "I, Shadow the Hedgehog, accept your challenge." Shadowpaw smirked and looked up into his eyes, her eyes twinkling. Shadow blinked, and her amber eyes immediately looked away. Shadow smiled and grabbed her paw, pulling her up. She looked at him surprised, but it soon turned to pure satisfaction.

"Let's race!"

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As you all know, I have said millions of times that I don't like this version of the story and that I was going to rewrite it. Well, I am! So, I shall put up the first chapter of 'A Hero in the Shadows', the title of the remade remodified 'Shadow the Hedgehog' game. It's for the Hero side, and I might even make a Dark side story! Of course, he _will _be good in the end; I can't stand the story mode of him being evil! Wait a little, and it'll be on track soon!

Ja ne, until next time!


	5. Sequel

DL: I finally decided to make a little (actually, it's a bit long…) sequel to this, since I still love it so. Even though it sucks…but it's funny to look at. Now, you shall marvel the awesome change I've had over the years in my grammar and such! BE AMAZED!

Shadowpaw: Now you're just scaring people.

DL: I know! Isn't it awesome? (smiles innocently)

Shadow: Right…

Kussia: So…am I in this?

DL: Not physically, no, but you are mentioned.

Kussia: Aww…

Shadowpaw: YES! (does happy dance) That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I _like_ it, uh-huh, uh-huh… (continues singing)

Tails: They're all just weird, don't mind them.

DL: You know, if you weren't my second favorite character, I would hurt you.

Tails: …So, I guess I'm lucky, then?

DL: Yes, you are. (hugs him)

Tails: AAAH, GIRL COOTIES!

Sonic: Err, shall we continue?

DL: Ooh, I almost forgot! (drops Tails) On with the sequel! (whispers) Beware of the tons and tons of fluff! I know you guys have been secretly wishing for it!

Shadowpaw: What?

DL: (smiles innocently) Nothing! (whispers to readers again) Hurry, before she sees it!

Chapter 5

Changes…

_It's been a while now…and so many things have changed._

Shadowpaw stood at the same oak on the hill she had found Shadow at about a year ago to try to convince him to help, crossing her arms as she leaned against the rough bark with her eyes closed. The position was familiar, since she had seen Shadow do it often, and she actually found it quite comfortable. _No wonder I always find him like this,_ she thought as she watched the sunlight from the back of her eyelids, her ears twitching at the sound of a dog barking. Fish were once again swimming in the pond, slapping the surface of the water with their tails as the daylight glimmered on their submerged scales, making the pond that much brighter and brilliant. She opened her eyes to watch them from her spot, smiling as she thought of them on a plate smothered in tartar sauce. _Mmm, fish…but tuna will always be my favorite._

She laid down on the ground and put her hands behind her head as she looked up at the sky, looking at the clouds as she remembered when Tails came to her (new) house with a bunch of tuna. He said that it was for helping them save the world, and she nearly cried at the bountiful amount that many of his 'helpers' (Cream, Cheese, and Charmy) helped cart in. She went over and hugged him so tightly that he started to turn blue, and when she asked how she could repay him he rubbed the back of his neck and grinned nervously. "Just don't hug me like that again, please…" She quickly agreed.

She picked out a cloud that looked like Cheese, and as it floated off and morphed into different shapes she thought of how she acquired her house. It was about a week after they defeated Black Doom, when everything was starting to simmer down. After all, it was just another 'superhero' saving the world once more; it's not like it didn't happen every month. She had been roaming the streets, slightly disappointed that nobody was trying to get her autograph anymore (she had actually liked the publicity a bit, although it got annoying), but she could deal with it as long as no one just randomly came out of nowhere to tackle her into a death-hug and yell 'OMG I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN!!'. As she traveled around aimlessly the still broken-down city (they were still doing repairs), she bumped into someone unexpectedly. She blinked as she realized that (lo and behold) she had run into Shadow the Hedgehog, and after a moment of him blinking as well he smirked and said, "Hello, _cat._"

She gave a grin in reply to the old nickname that used to be an insult. "Heya, _rat._" He fell into step beside her as she continued on, and they traveled in a while of silence before she spoke up, "So, how's life treating you?"

He groaned. "I _never_ knew I had a fanbase."

Shadowpaw laughed at his expression, only earning herself a glare. She teased, "Now you know how _Sonic_ feels!" Being compared to the blue hedgehog seemed to irritate him further (since so many people do it _every day_), and she laughed and patted him on the back as she shook her head. "Don't worry," she tried to reassure him, "I'm sure that if you be as mean as you _always_ are, they'll go away."

"I'm not mean…"

"Nah, you're right." She smirked. "You're just a stick-in-the-mud."

He scoffed. "Am not."

"Are too."

"Am _not._"

"Are_ too!_"

"If I _am,_" he smirked at her, "then why do you constantly follow me?"

"I _don't_ – urgh…" Her eye twitched in annoyance as he chuckled at her obvious irritation, and she (playfully) punched him in the shoulder as they walked on to the park where it all started, as if driven by instinct and their feet to walk there. He rubbed his arm and scowled at her, saying, "You're so _violent_."

"Yep!" She laughed and winked. "But, that's why ya love me!" Before he could reply to that, she ran off to the hill with a laugh, and he shook his head at her before quickly following, seeing that she had fallen over to stare at the clouds above them. He soon sat beside her, looking up as well to the big open sky, such a sharp blue in contrast to the new grass that was already beginning to grow. It was calming to watch for the both of them, and it was a while before either of them spoke.

"Shadow?"

"Hm?" He looked over at her laying on her side with her arm propping up her head, staring at him curiously.

"Do you _really_ think I follow you?"

He smirked, looking up at the sky and not answering her.

"Hello? _Hello?_ He– argh, why do I even bother?" She went back to laying on her back with her hands behind her head, glaring up at a cloud shaped like his head and imagining it exploding. He chuckled, to which she kicked him, but then he looked at her and said, "Oh, I almost forgot." He stood up, dusting himself off as the feline looked up at him curiously. He motioned for her to follow him, and she leapt up to her feet as he started to exit the park. She asked him as they ran down the street, "Where are we going?" When he didn't answer, she growled and shouted, "_Hey!_" With still no clue as to their destination, she grumbled under her breath before struggling to catch up. Finally, he zoomed around a corner, and when she followed suit she found that she stopped in her tracks. She felt her mouth drop agape, but she did not care.

Sonic and his friends were clustered together and waved at her, but her attention wasn't on them. Her eyes were wide as she stared up at the two-story house, not exactly fancy but pleasing to the eyes, and a big banner above the front door that said 'Welcome Home, Shadowpaw!' on it. It had a mailbox, sidewalk, garage, _everything;_ she even saw something like a treehouse in the backyard. As she stood there, amazed, Sonic walked over and grinned as he handed her a bag, and when she looked inside it she found many cans of tuna laying nestled like precious eggs in a nest. She smiled, wanting to cry.

This was _the best_ day ever!

Then, when Shadow walked over to her and looked at her surprised-and-shocked-but-delighted-beyond-belief face, he explained, "Amy told us."

She smiled, her eyes watering with happiness as she gave him a super big hug. "Damn hedgehogs."

Shadowpaw sighed at the memory, feeling as if it was just yesterday. And yet, so many things had happened since then, making the time stretch by for a whole year. It seemed that Eggman was going to try (once more) to trick Sonic, and all of his friends went to go help him. But…Shadow stayed. He said that he had enough of being the hero, and she laughed, remembering all of the teasing she had done to him. But, she could understand; saving the world really did a number on you, and Shadow wasn't even used to it too much. _I mean, sure, there was that time when Eggman gave Sonic and them three days to stop him, but he had Rouge and Omega to help. It's different when you stand alone…_

Then, after a while of thought, she smiled. _But…he _wasn't _alone. He had us behind him, urging him on._ She nodded her head, remembering all of the battles they had participated in, smirking at the time when she ripped that robot apart after it had shot at Shadow. (Chapter 2) _Bastard deserved it, though._ She chuckled again at this, sitting up and putting her back up against the bark of the tree as she closed her eyes. She let all of the sounds wash over her like a wave, getting lost in all of the laughter and barking and splashing in the park as well as the quietness of it (compared to the city, anyways). It was all so calming, she wanted to just take a nap in the warmth of the light and the light breeze that kept her from overheating, soft grass beckoning to her…

She felt someone push her over, and she opened her eyes as she fell onto her side to see Shadow smirking, his foot elevated to show that he did it. She scowled as she sat up straight once more, glaring at him as he chuckled. Weird, normally he wouldn't laugh, but he had started doing it more often; he had told her (when she asked, of course) that it felt good to do it, this new sensation, and he was tentatively testing it out like one would put their toe into the water to see if it was a comfortable temperature. Actually…she liked it. It was nice seeing him smile, after so much of his scowling and glaring at her before. In fact, she preferred this instead of back in the day of 'Team Dark', which was just about as friendly as it sounded (not at all). _He's…nicer, easier to deal with. And the word 'nice guy' just suits him, if only to piss him off._ She then smirked at the thought, making him raise an eyebrow, and she said, "Wazzup?"

"Nothing, really." He grinned back at her, and she still thought that it fit him, and he teased, "Just felt like coming over and annoying you when I found you snoozing over here."

"I was _not_ snoozing," she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Watch it," he told her as she withdrew her tongue, "or I might Chaos Spear that thing out of your mouth." She made a face at him in response, and he smirked and raised his arm as if to use it. She quickly covered her mouth with an 'eep', and when he started to laugh at her she pouted and crossed her arms. "You're mean," she grumbled, and he laughed some more.

"Yes," he finally told her, "I am." Then, he smirked. "But, that's why you love me."

"Yep." At his slightly surprised expression, she grinned and added 'because it gives me an excuse to be mean back!' and pushed him over so that he rolled down the hill, but unexpectedly he grabbed her arm and brought her along with him with a yelp, and a feeling of déjà vu came upon her as they both tumbled down like Jack and Jill with the bucket of water, much like the time she had first been rolling down it with him (Chapter 1). They struggled with each other as they traveled towards the bottom, before finally they came to a stop at the foot of the hill, with the cat on top of him. She grinned triumphantly at him and taunted, "_Ha!_ I win."

"_No…_" Suddenly, he disappeared in a flash, and she was stunned as she was thrown onto her back and he was suddenly pinning her down, holding her wrists to stop her from pushing him off and escaping. "_I_ win." Since he was so powerful, there was no way she could just shove him off without at least the use of her hands, and her legs at the moment were trapped beneath his. _Damn, he pulled out all of the stops…he _always _overdoes things…_

Still, as she looked up at his own triumphant smirk, she could feel her face growing hot. _Dammit, I'm blushing!_ She gulped nervously, wondering why she was suddenly so anxious to get away and why his face seemed so close to hers all of a sudden. She struggled a little, but he just smirked and taunted, "Not so tough now, huh, cat?"

She gulped again, squirming a little more under his gaze. _Yeesh, it's like he could look through a wall of steel!_ "Err," she mumbled, "could you…get off?" She was looking at everything but him, which was hard to accomplish seeing as how he was on top of her.

He raised an eyebrow, but then an idea seemed to come to his mind as he asked her innocently, "Why? You're very comfortable." He settled himself as if he wasn't going to move for a while, smirking at her unease. "Besides, you might try to kick my ass if I do."

"_Argh…_" She groaned and sighed, wishing that she had a Chaos Emerald or something so she could 'Chaos Control' the hell out of there, but she was stuck with the hedgehog pinning her down as the world seemed to go on without them. Thankfully, they had rolled down the hill on the side that faced away from everyone else, and so nobody's peering eyes were watching her private humiliation as she wriggled like a snake. She whined, "Get _off!_"

"No."

"_Off!_"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"_Yeeeeeeees!_"

"_Nooooooo!_"

"_Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?_"

"Hmmm…" He seemed to think seriously about it for a moment. "…No."

"_Shadow!_" She tried to flail out some more, not really getting anywhere until finally he sighed and said, "Fine…" Before she could sigh in relief, though, he looked at her and smirked. "But only on one condition."

She rolled her eyes, thinking it would be something like 'do everything I say for a week' or something like that. "What?"

"Don't kill me after I do this."

"Do wha –" She was suddenly cut off, and her eyes widened in surprise when she realized he had leaned down and caught her lips with his for a brief kiss, before he got off of her and dusted himself off. Then, he smirked at her again, mischievousness twinkling in his eyes, before he chuckled and ran off, leaving her to lay on the grass in shock and silence. Staring up at where Shadow's head had been just a moment before, her amber eyes were bright with confusion and bewilderment, wondering what the _hell_ just happened there. _Did he just…just…_ Unable to continue the thought, she sat up and touched her lips for a moment with the tips of her fingers, still able to feel his touch there even though he was probably already halfway across town by now.

It's been a while, almost a year since Black Doom was defeated, and a _lot_ has changed.

* * *

Not even a week later, it was her birthday once more, and she was rudely awakened to a loud banging on her door as she sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes drowsily. Taking a moment for her bleary eyes to focus, she slipped out of bed in her blue pajamas with little orange goldfish on them to drag her feet down the hallway and the stairs (nearly tripping down them) to get to the door. Such a long journey included much angry muttering, and as she cast obscenities to everything around her (walls, doors, stairs, and coffee mugs were not spared) she finally got to her door and checked through the peephole. When she couldn't see anyone, she growled at the world before opening the door to check once more. When she went to step outside, however, her foot ran into something hard, and after a while of her hopping on one foot and yelling so many curses that a mother across the street covered her child's ears and ran down the sidewalk, the feline finally picked up the parcel she had stubbed her toe on and walked back inside, shutting the door behind her with the click of the lock.

Walking over to sit on her couch, she flipped the TV to the news before settling herself and looking at the package. _Usually I have to sign these damn things…_ She shrugged, deciding not to look the gift horse in the mouth, and went to opening the thing. When she saw the name of the sender, though, her heart beat faster as she ripped it open much _much_ faster. As the brown paper fell away, she frowned at another layer of wrapping beneath it. _Dammit, I hate getting presents in the mail cuz it's so damn complicated to open them…_ "Grr," she grumbled under her breath as she slipped a claw underneath the flap to rip the tape, "I need coffee." Finally, she ripped away the second layer and wedged it open, and she picked up the card laying on top of it as she set the box aside for the moment. She opened it up, and she smiled at what it said:

"_Dear cat,_

_Hmm, it seems you're another year older already. I wonder if you've gotten any smarter? Probably not. As the old saying goes, 'you can't teach a dog new tricks'._"

She scowled at this. "That's just _dogs, doi._"

"_But, of course, you're a _feline,_ so perhaps it doesn't apply to you. Anyways, Cream was the one who reminded me that it was your birthday (dammit it, the girl's attached to me and follows me around _everywhere; _reminds me of you!), and she kept pestering me until I made a card and got you a present (not necessarily in that order). She also put her present in there, too; it's the one that has the ridiculous amount of flowers and a drawing of a chao on the top (I think she's obsessed with them or something). I _would _normally just give this to you myself, _but_ Cream wants to be Ms. Messenger and begged for me to let her go bring it to you. Crazy rabbit._"

"Aww," she laughed, "he's got a soft spot for her. You can just tell." She continued reading.

"_So, I _was _going to leave it at that (since I've never really found that much of an importance to the day that _I _was born on, let alone anyone else's), but Cream _still_ wants me to do more for you. She's getting annoying, actually…it's almost like she's trying to be my mother or something. 'But Mr. Shadow, you should be courteous to young ladies! I'm sure she would do the same for _you!_' Gah, seriously, how do you deal with little kids? They drive me _nuts!"

"He's already nuts!" She laughed some more, thoroughly enjoying the letter but wondering what he was getting at.

"_So, I've decided that I wanted to torture you some more – it is your birthday, after all – and I want you to meet me up at the park _(she knew which one he was talking about immediately) _at noon, since I know you won't be up until then. This is payback for all of those times you teased me about being 'old'._

–_Shadow_"

She snickered, remembering all of the times she would taunt and annoy him by reminding him how he should be over fifty-years-old, although she knew it was a slightly tender subject and refrained from getting too spiteful. Going down to the bottom of the letter, she read the last line:

"_P.S.: By the way, they're doing a special documentary or something on the news today. You might wanna check it out, since you (might) be up at ten-thirty._"

Curious about the report, she looked up at the TV just as the little jingle for the news rang in her ears, and, as if reading those words had summoned it, the 'special report' he had talked about was on.

"**Although a week has already passed, we are still celebrating the amazing heroes who saved the world little more than a year ago this day.**" The news reporter smiled a typical perfect smile that just creeped out Shadowpaw, but she ignored it. "**The Black Comet had passed closely by the planet a year ago, and with it came Black Doom's monstrous army, the Black Arms. These are actual photographs from the disaster.**" Photos from the invasion brought back sharp memories that made her smile a little, remembering the heat of the cannons shot into the streets and the force of a Black Oak smacking her across the head. She listened as they went on, "**Thanks to a black hedgehog named Shadow, however, with the help of his close friends, Black Doom was forced off of the planet with the rest of his monster menaces.**"

An interview with Rouge the Bat came onto the screen, and Shadowpaw raised an eyebrow as the jewel hunter said casually, "**Oh, yeah, Shadow was **_**always**_** the silent loner type, but he had so many people to look out for him that he wasn't allowed to be alone!**" She winked at the screen, as if towards the feline, as she added, "_**Especially **_**that cute cat that followed him around!**"

"_Rouge!_" She threw a couch cushion at her picture on the screen, but as it bounced off of it harmlessly the reporter appeared on it once more. "**The famous hedgehog, Sonic, also gave his congrats to the black liberator. He said, 'Sometimes, you never know who you really are until you face yourself head-on without hesitation. Shadow was able to beat down Black Doom by figuring out what was **_**most**_** important to him!' The blue hedgehog also said that he hoped he had a 'good run' and he hoped to race him again sometime. Current status on their rivalry is uncertain, although they seemed to have become friends after the Doom incident.**

"**The whole event took place in outer space, so the exact details aren't clear except from what a few witnesses have to say. Miles Prower, best friend of Sonic the Hedgehog, said that a huge battle took place, and a great effort of teamwork was what finally brought the monster down. He seemed to have felt a bit left out, but,**" the reporter chuckled lightheartedly, "**he says that he would forgive them.**"

Shadowpaw smiled and shook her head at it all. _Man, these reports are a trip!_ Ready to go get some actual clothes on, she was stopped from getting off of the couch by the next sentence.

"**A direct interview with the hedgehog was hard to get, but eventually our reporters met him by chance and were able to strike up a conversation with him. He wouldn't let us take a video of him, but he allowed us to record his responses.**" A click sounded, signaling the start of the audio recordings, and she slowly sat back to listen carefully to them.

"**How did you meet most of your friends, Shadow?**"

The cool response sounded much like the antisocial Shadow everyone knew and loved, but underneath it Shadowpaw could hear how he really felt. His long answer proved it as he spoke for more than he would have before. "**Most of them I had met a long time ago, but I lost my memory in a…previous battle. I met them all again, plus gained some new friends, after Eggman decided he wanted to try to rule the world again.**" His scoff was heard right before they cut it out to talk some more about the interview, and she smirked and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's Shadow, alright…" She shushed, though, as they played some more of the interview.

"**What was it like to fight against Black Doom up on the Comet?**"

This response took a moment longer, with which you could tell because they cut out some of the silence to save room on the show. "**It's hard to explain when you are battling for more than just your memories, when the fate of the entire world rests in the outcome of the battle. It's hard when everything is thrust upon you, when before the world had turned its back on you without another thought.**" A momentary pause. "**But, when you have people standing beside you, ready to risk it all for you, supporting you when you fall, and they are there until the bitter end…there is no mistake; you **know **that you will win.**" Then, there was another break in the audio static to show another part of the response. "**I knew that I at least had **one **person there, standing beside me to help me fight against Doom no matter what came…**" She could almost hear him smirking, just picturing his face as he answered them. "**And, if she hadn't pulled me out of that park, I would never have done any of it.**" Another pause. "**Thank you.**"

Her eyes watered for some reason, and she wiped her nose before scolding herself aloud, "Why am I getting all upset? It's just the news…" Still, she sniffed, and she took a tissue with her as she went to get clothes on, the last words of the report drifting up the staircase along with her.

"**And so, we can only hope that we have these heroes with us as we evolve into a better nation, one that is united and strong and will never fall, just like the unbreakable bonds of Shadow and his friends…now, in other news…**"

* * *

Shadowpaw walked into the park, smiling brightly as the sunlight shone down on her and brightened up her already glowing amber orbs, and looked around the park curiously. Obviously, he wasn't near the front, and so she walked down the little path, looking around at the people playing around her joyfully. The little boy with his dog romped around in the grass, throwing and catching a red Frisbee in a game of Fetch. A couple sat on a bench nearby, the lady laying her head onto the man's shoulder as the held hands. For some reason, the sight of the couple made her throat clenched, but she quickly hurried past them and continued with her search for Shadow. Spying their casual hangout spot, she jogged up the hill and looked around, wondering where he could be…

"Why, _hello._"

She yelped and fell backwards onto her tail, glaring at the black hedgehog sitting in the tree. He just smirked at her, and she scowled at him before quickly climbing up the trunk and sitting beside him on the branch, hoping that it was strong enough to hold them both. When it didn't seem like it would collapse or break, she relaxed some more before looking at Shadow inquiringly. "Soooooo…?"

"Soooooo, what?"

"What did you call me out for?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "You _did_ say you were going to torture me."

"I did, didn't I?" He leaned back so his back was up against the bark of the trunk, and he put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes as he got comfortable, leaving her staring at him expectantly. When he didn't make a move to do _anything,_ she frowned and asked, "Aren't ya gonna talk?"

He shook his head.

"No teasing?"

Another shake.

"Or taunting?"

A shake and a smirk.

"Well then, what the hell _are _you going to do?"

He shrugged, and she groaned and rolled her eyes. _Figures, he'd torture me with _boredomShaking her head at him, she looked down at the people moving around in the park as she swung her feet back and forth, shaking the branch a little. He opened an eye to watch her do it for a moment, before closing it again and breathing in the fresh air deeply. She spied the couple once more from her perch, and as she watched them exchange a passionate kiss, she inquired quietly, "Shadow?"

"Hm?" When she didn't ask immediately, he opened an eye again to look at her, legs now still as she stared in the distance. He eventually followed her gaze with both eyes and turned his head to look at the bench. He figured what she was going to ask next.

"Why did you…kiss me?"

He was silent for a while, just looking at the couple, and it was the feline's turn to watch him for a while. She examined his face hopefully for an answer, but none presented itself to her, and so she was left hanging, waiting for his verbal response as he seemed focused on something else entirely. She began to think that he hadn't heard her and was going to ask again when suddenly he shifted and turned his head to look right at her. She froze, breath caught in her throat as she looked into his deep garnet-colored eyes, feeling her heart-rate speed up dangerously and making her feel lightheaded. _Dammit, I better not be blushing again…_ Unfortunately, she jinxed herself, and as she felt her cheeks burn crimson she watched as he grinned in amusement, to which she looked down at the ground below them as she twiddled her thumbs together. _Maybe if I don't look at him, he won't embarrass me more…_

"Shadowpaw," her head snapped up at her name, "come here." When she looked at him in confusion, he motioned for her to scoot over on the branch. Giving him a strange look, she did as she was told, careful not to fall off of the branch, but she gasped in surprise when he suddenly grabbed her and pulled her into his chest and a fierce hug. Heart stuck in her throat, she gulped and tried to stop it from beating faster than a speeding bullet (damn, girl, that's _fast!_) as she wondered if she should hug him back. She was prevented from making this decision when he started to speak.

"Ever since I've met you," he started, "there was something about you that stood out. You had fire…you had power, a determination that didn't allow you to stop for anybody." He held her a bit more firmly, as if trying to form words but having trouble doing so, before he chuckled. "You were also the most annoying person I had ever met. You were constantly following me, acting as if you knew it all, and always liked to call me 'rat'." (Chapter 1)

She looked up at him staring down at her, amusement in his light grin, and she gulped as her face became red once more and she looked away to try to stop the humiliation. But, he obviously wanted her full attention, for he grabbed her chin and turned her head back to look him in the eyes. He continued, "And yet, when you got kidnapped by Eggman, _somehow_," he smirked when she stuck her tongue out at him, "I felt as if it was my fault, and it made me feel terrible. (Chapter 2) Sonic finally came to help me, damn him," he said this with a smile, so it was just a light insult. He seemed to have become friendlier with the blue hedgehog over the years.

"Tails used his giant ship to fly us up to where Eggman was hiding, where we were surrounded by Black Arms, GUN units, and Eggman's robots all at once." He shook his head at the memory. (Chapter 3) "It was really confusing, but eventually we found you flying out in some homemade robot or something." Then, he looked at her curiously. "How the hell did you _make_ that thing, anyways?"

She smirked at him. "Very carefully."

He shook his head at her before he went on, "When the Black Arms got you, I was so frustrated with myself for not getting you that I made a dent in a steel wall." Shadowpaw looked at her with an eyebrow raised, not really taking that seriously, but he said, "You can even ask Sonic; he's the one that said to stop taking my anger out on it."

"Right…"

"Alright, _don't_ believe me then." He smirked at her. "Black Doom wanted the Chaos Emeralds in exchange for you –"

"Phhbt!" Shadowpaw rolled her eyes. "As _if!_ He'd just kill us all after he got 'em all!"

"– but I knew that, and I wasn't going to let him have them. I went up there with the intention of kicking his ass and taking you by force."

"Oh, _thanks,_" she rolled her eyes, "I've been demoted to _property_ now."

"Oh, shut up. I'm being serious here. When we got there, and I saw you in those chains…" The look that came across his face nearly broke her heart; he just looked so lost and furious that she finally returned the hug he gave her, closing her eyes and trying to remind him it was only a memory. He shook his head, and she listened to him as he continued explaining, "I was so angry I didn't know what to do, so it's a good thing that you got yourself out of that Oak's grip."

"Stupid Oak."

"When we finally defeated him, I knew that it wasn't just _my_ amazing power that had done it. _All_ of us (meaning Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Kussia, and Shadowpaw, although Tails didn't do much…) did it, together."

"I dunno," Shadowpaw smiled, looking up at him and joking, "You _are_ pretty strong."

He smirked and nodded. "That's right." She then scoffed and rolled her eyes, but he just continued to smirk and brought her back to his chest. She gulped, blushing once more, and she stuttered, "Th-that _still_ doesn't answer my question!"

"Doesn't it, though?" He looked at her, and her eyes widened as he once again leaned forward, stealing her second kiss before she could do anything. This one was a bit longer, though, and she allowed her eyes to slip closed before he leaned back and chuckled. "A week ago, you said the words 'that's why you love me'. And, I've realized that, you were right." Then, she heard him say the words that she had secretly been waiting him to say for an entire week - no, for more than a _year_.

"I'm in love with you."

_Final Commentaries!_

DL: YAY! (hops up and down) Finally, I've ended this with some fluff I know you guys secretly wanted! Oh, and Gaara's Pyro Raccoon (or however the hell you spell it), I guess you could call this the sequel. I know it's been forever since I finished this story, but I wanted to add one last thing before I made a new version of it, ya know? Because, after I read this story again, I realized that, although it's not as good as my more recent stories, it still has something that I can't bear to just throw away. And, I think this ends it pretty nicely.

Shadowpaw and Shadow: …

DL: …What?

Kussia: They're just too happy to talk to you right now.

Sp and S: SHUT UP!

DL: Heh, I abbreviated their names…and Kussia'll be K!

K: What? Ah, damn… (shrugs) Oh, well. No harm, no foul.

DL: So, I've been working on this all week (yay, me!) so I hope you guys like this! I didn't exactly know how I was going to end this at first (my original idea was to lower the fluffiness and bring Cream in to spoil the mood), but I just felt like being cute and cuddly for at least one chapter. (sticks tongue out) Now you can't say I don't have feelings!

Dalsson: Oh, you have feelings, alright.

DL: (looks confused) Dally? What the bloody hell are _you_ doing here?

Dal: Well, (dammit, you've already abbreviated me!) this isn't really me, but a figment of your imagination that took the form of me so that you could have a conversation with me that you thought would probably happen if you really _did_ have a conversation with me, and so this is basically just a test run before you have the real thing in case everything goes wrong with _this_ me so you could fix any mistakes before you talk to the _real_ me later. Does that explain it?

DL: Yeah.

Sp: Argh, my brain hurts…

DL: Heh, stupid…

Sp: HEY! You know, I'm _your_ character, so you might as well be calling _yourself_ stupid!

Silence…

Dal: Hmm, you know, she makes a good point.

DL: Yah, I have to agree…

K: Ain't that a surprise!

Sp: WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!

DL: So, does that make Kussia a figment, too?

Dal: Yeah, duh. Would you ever _really_ expect Kussia to say 'ain't'?

DL: …Good point. _Anyways, _I hope ya like it, and I expect everyone who reviewed this story to review this sequel chapter, as well! (glares at readers) That means YOU!!

Everyone: Please review! (DL adds 'before I kill you!')

S: That wasn't very nice…

DL and Sp: Oh, shut up. (both punch him)

S: OUCH!

Everyone but S: (snicker)

S: Fine, I'll just run off, then, and _never return!_ (runs off)

Sp: No, wait, Shadow! Come back! (runs after him)

DL: (sighs) Ah, young love. How it makes me wanna barf. (sticks finger down throat)

Dal: And yet you write it.

DL: (punches him super hard) SHUT UP!! (covers camera with hand) THIS COMMENTARY IS OFFICIALLY OVER!!

_Fin_


End file.
